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I went back to work yesterday. It was tiring after a week of being at home. I had forgotten how dark it is at 6 am. It was a tough day. I have compassionate coworkers who offered condolences and comfort and I managed to cry only three times. Not too bad. Hopefully, today will be tear free.

Things at home are back to normal, or what passes for normal in our house. We had our memorial brunch and it was nice. Three generations of family present. There are so few of us and it seems a shame that we only all seem to get together anymore for sad occasions.

I got my first flu shot this morning. I opted to just roll up my sleeve and get it over with. There will be at least one possibly two more, depending on what the CDC says about the H1N1 vaccine. People are still grumbling about it and there has been talk of refusal but most people won't take the chance of losing their jobs.

And it's that time again. Blogtoberfest is back! Last year I took the challenge and managed t…

First of all, let me say Thank you for all the thoughts and hugs. They are appreciated and they helped me remember I'm not alone. My family is wonderful and so are all of you.

This has been an interesting week. I called my HR person on Monday and was told I was entitled to 5 bereavement days and they encouraged me to take them. So I did. I have been home all week. At first, I was reluctant but now I'm glad I did. I find myself drifting off in the middle of whatever I'm doing and staring into space.

Today's Buddhist Inspiration seemed apt. I have been trying to guide my mind (not that I consider myself wise) down soft paths of memories. And thus the drifting off.

I've been spinning. The whir whir of the wheel is hypnotic. I've finished a skein of alpaca and it's pretty good. It's a little thicke…

My mother died today. I knew I would be saying those words some day but somehow I didn't think it would be today. My mom has been sick for a number of years but each time we were sure "this is it" she bounced back like the Energizer Bunny.

I haven't seen or talked to her for a while. There are a lot of complicated reasons for this. And in the fullness of time, I will examine them again and again and ask myself if I should have done things differently. But not today. Today I am sad.

It's my oldest daughter's 26th birthday and I wanted to write about what a wonderful person she is, how loving and caring. And I will, but not today. Today I am spending reflecting how people influence my life, whether they are involved with the dailyness of it or not.

My mother's name was Mary Jane. Everytime I see one of those little candies I think of her. When I seen carnations, I think of her. When I smell certain perfumes, I think of her. When I look at my ch…

Here is a bobbin of alpaca singles. Thumb included for scale. When I said I had small bobbins, I wasn't kidding. The wheel actually came with several bobbins, some original to the wheel and smaller than this one. The guy who sold me the wheel made two of these and included them. For Christmas, Kate bought me some generic bobbins that are slightly bigger but with the flyer set up the way it is, you can't go much bigger. Pk had to cut them down to fit. I'm pleased with the singles. They are soft and have slight variations in color. I'm about a quarter done a second bobbin. It spins so quickly and easily, I almost feel like there's something wrong.

Things are in a small uproar at work. Word came down yesterday and today we got copies of the hospital policy to prove it, that we are being required to get flu shots this year. Now, in the past, it has been strongly (and I mean strongly) encouraged for everyone to get a flu shot. For the first 5 yrs or so, I co…

Oh God. Blogger must have updated something because it looks different. I don't deal with change very well. I like to turn on the machine and know what I'm doing and not have to think about it too much. I'm just not that adventurous with the technology.

Yesterday will go down in our family history as The Day We Spent More Time On The Road Than At The Event. It started innocently enough. When I called Em to make sure we were still on for the Sheep Show, she said she had a problem with her car and her direct deposit hadn't gone through and she might not be able to go. This made me sad because we had been looking forward to this for a while. So, I did the only thing I could think of and said, "Not to worry. We'll pick you up on the way". (Snicker, 'on the way'. It would be at least an hour out of our way and add almost 3 hours to the total trip.) It doesn't make any sense but I'm the Mom, it's what I do. I help. I was helping …

I'm sitting at my desk at work and I wish I could show you what it looks like out my window. There's a tree that is blowing this way and that in the wind. It's dark. Very dark (except for the flashes of lightning). The thunder seems to rumble on forever and the rain is pelting down like nobody's business. Pedestrians are trying to angle their umbrellas toward the driving rain but I know it's not helping because I was doing the same thing about a half hour ago. My pants are wet from the knees down and my shoes are wet. I'm thankful that the a/c seems to be turned down somewhat today or I would freeze. The only good thing you can say is that it's Friday and not Monday.

I made some chocolate chip cookies for a potluck lunch today and left them home. Having to deal with the storm kinda threw me. Tomorrow is the Garden State Sheep Show. It's supposed to rain early in the day and gradually clear up. But the show, like all animal related shows, is in a field. …

One of my goals for the weekend was to finish Elanor's Feb Lady Sweater and I did it. I finished it Saturday night and put it to soak in the washer on Sunday morning and then blocked it . The blocking wires came in handy to keep the fronts straight. I measured El and made the size just a bit up from her measurements in order to give her some ease (she doesn't like tight garments). Pre blocking, the sweater was short and seemed small. Post blocking, it fits just like she wanted. I had to sew the button holes shut a little because they were made for round buttons but other than that, she loves it. I used Knitpicks Swish worsted in Deep Ocean and I have 4 skeins left so someone will get a hat and/or mittens out of it. It's a superwash merino and knits up soft and squishable. I had intended to make this sweater for me but I'm rethinking it. It is definitely a quick knit. The lace moves along fairly quickly and is an easy pattern to remember. I'll wait and …

It's been a week since I posted. I'm not sure where the week went. It certainly hasn't been an extraordinarily busy week but somehow the days just slipped through my fingers without me knowing.

This is Labor Day weekend here in the US. A long weekend that I made longer by taking off Thursday and Friday. Five days in a row. Bliss. Thursday afternoon, I dropped Pk off in the woods with his pack. He hiked a few miles to his favorite wilderness campsite (no running water and therefore no "facilities". I know, ewww) and set up camp for the night. He hiked into Batsto and Elanor and I went and picked him up Friday afternoon. He was tired but in fairly good shape. Now, after sitting for a while, he's getting stiff and somewhat sore. Old muscles protest a little more than young ones.

I carded some of the alpaca that we got at the Alpaca Fest in May. I haven't been able to find any information on this particular carder online so I'm winging it. So far, so good. …